Sandrooo

No offence Kirk but this is not even viable for me that I do it as a "second job" so I have more time to create my asset and import them for then place them accordingly, let alone people who do this as daily job with busy pipelines.... again photoshop is a simple COPY AND PASTE, we are talking about worse case 10-15 seconds compared to still a cumbersome way in Affinity as many, way more experienced, developers have been saying in this topic and Reddit (if you want to do a quick google search, as Discord channels won't appear in it). By the time you get to your point three I have done and saved a texture with three maps in it... No reason in trying to continue this further as many other have said Affinity is too specific for photographers only and is of no use for developers, not even for who like me does bits and pieces (although published) as I prefer to use an app that can do both, I see no point in bloating my hard drive with something that can barely do something SO simple, it is a shame as I am very ethical when choosing software (or food really) and I would rather give my money to a smaller company, but hey...as said...their product, if they are happy by selling at £25 quid like in a street market that's totally up to them, I do not code specifically so not sure if they lack of knowledge to make such as simple implementation (considering the tools are already there) as perhaps isn't that simple, so cannot judge. As the long list of people here and online have said this software is just a disappointment, the company is willingly holding it back and sure enough Adobe is happy, they know money is with studios and gaming business, generating more money than Hollywood as we know, that's why they could not care less of offering anything more convenient, than the current plans, they have no reason too, what's the point in wasting resources to go after a niche (because let's face it, small photographer are a niche).

That has nothing to do with what we are talking about here just had a very very quick look and will watch it later fully.... besides literally in Photoshop and GIMP all you do is COPY > PASTE - no one said anything about non destructive, we are talking about channels, if I pack texture in a channel di per se is non destructive as if I want to update a channel I just re-open that file and paste an up to date version of that texture in there (for example a metal map or roughness, which are just B&W images, that' why is so easy with GIMP and Photoshop, exception done with Alpha as if using PNG the best way is by SUPER PNG free plugin for photoshop), moreover I can easily manipulate said channels as any other channel with a brush if I want to modify something in detail, again this is already there in the software just serif does not allow you do do so. Not sure as I did not use Affinity much due of the limitation but with photoshop you can easily do manipulation and selection with channels in seconds without having to spend 3 minutes per step, again this is just a comment not based on experience as I found no use to even try it further, not even this second time with free trial. Alpha should be the same, after all it is just another channel, there is no need to do the mess that Affinity does for a simple channel manipulation, that is just that, a channel... I appreciate the different size of the two companies and how Serif is "new" (the fact that it was funded in the "900'" means nothing as Affinity is what made them relevant to the public) however as someone stated they keep chasing the white rabbit, a software is never finished and they keep not adding features "because we need to fix this or fix that". We are in 2021 we know what markets generate billions, there is not even need to do market research really, two simple modification would allow to reach a billions dollars market instead of doing 50% discount and selling an otherwise good software for £50 like if it is a "Chinese rip off", most functions are just there but totally overlooked. It is one off payment, once you sold X copies you have saturated people with interest in it, no company offers software 50% off if it sells like hotcake... fact is that for anyone doing anything but photo editing it is pretty much a bad purchase, still, as you still have to pay Adobe (or use Gimp if you are not a studio but indie), as many have stated above these are "minor" changes as there are lots of open source addons for Alpha / DDS however no one can force them to do something, not even 15k views of this own topic, we had many examples in history of tech of company disappearing or being relegated to the corner for arrogance in business. I mean if you are a wedding photographer or the very few left professional photographers doing only that then fine, but as stated above nowadays you get people do more than one thing even more so companies doing multimedia, basic for surviving in a competitive market that includes developing countries doing work for half the price, that dictate one has to be competitive. For the rest this is good for hobbyist photographer, I am one of them for example, yet I do also some game development as "side job" for a well renown platform and despite being a side job I get my addon published by a known company in this platform, so despite I like the software I still use Adobe as it covers both my uses and I assume for other people is the same, this without taking into account the actual pro who wrote and visualized this thread who need these feature as must and for a precise scope.

Incredible how I was still googling after my other post and find more and more people asking for really basics Serif isn't able to delivery! Shame the faith put 3 years ago hasn't been even remotely listened to channel packing still requires lots of steps, like a joke of an amount for no reasons, the spare channel flow is something someone would come out after a heavy night at the pub IMHO Will look at JR Macro (by the way as it took me some Googling it is on Gumroad for whoever wants to give it a go) however still, too much work for something that should be copy and paste as in Photoshop or worst in something offered for free like GIMP...

Came back a year later, downloaded the trial and see as bad as before, still no use for gaming, 3D (VFX too) or GUI so except photographer, if pure photographers still exist as nowadays you have to offer more services if you want to be more than a hobbyist and are keen in putting food on the table, the software still pretty much a £25 quid worth, if one wants to pay for the extra few features it offers compared to GIMP that is. Besides this alpha channel topic, packing in general is absolutely tedious and remind me of the process it took to do some simple folders navigation and file manipulation in DOS compared with drag and drop of the last few decades with windows. Even this was never addressed with a simple COPY AND PASTE in the already existing channels, one has to do some weird steps and over 30 different clicks to simply allow to have a B&W maps in channels which is already there and already editable, without even talking about the alpha itself as one can question it has to be added, the RGB is already there. As stated above it is not just an industry, nowadays is a bout multimedia in general. No idea why Serif did not outsource these features either and just create a different edition, like a "Professional" edition and just add a supplement price on it, the only software that can really be called an Adobe substitute is Da Vinci Resolve, price model is still right, and it is one off affordable price even for indies. Substance has more challenge and in fact there is still a perpetual license there, Photoshop has no rivals really. @crgreen what you are saying isn't what can be done with Photoshop really also the steps you are stating are like not viable for anyone but very very amateur out there. @MattyWS True also fun that Serif is a UK based company, a country where there are some great studios for gaming and films; yes TGA is something but it is like having the key of a car but the car has no tires... the packing is awkward despite the channels are there. I discovered affinity over a year ago and I was excited like a chid at Christmas, however that excitement died with a google search and this forum when I tried to do some stuff for my texture work, downloaded it again this week and I see no difference, they endlessly work on stuff without even having a solid base first, they hardware accelerate a software which cannot even do the basic first, go figure! Besides look at this topic views, over 15k, one of the most viewed...besides the various chat we have on busy discord servers on 3D / VFX / Development. But hey as they say "Never Attempt To Teach a Pig To Sing; It Wastes Your Time and Annoys the Pig" - and you aren't right about photoshop, it has been supporting simple channel manipulation for nearly two decades, that's nearly 20 years...even more refined a decade ago @roger rosa well not just alpha, even normal RGB packing is so tedious, it takes way too long, Photoshop you open the three maps, (currently I pack AO / ROUGH / METAL) copy rough > paste in AO green - copy metal > paste in AO blue.........DONE..... no need to do the tedious and pointless steps with affinity pixel layers and so on, and with the other engine I work with I do the same with roughness in the Alpha, just open copy > paste and save with SUPER PNG, done. So it is not just alpha, all channels are totally useless in a practical way, extremely limiting. *** No offence just my own opinion / rant, Serif keeps adding stuff when they do not even have solid product but a very specific one with many features in common with open source, or worse free mobile phone app leaving it convenient for a very limited and extremely specific target. It seems Serif is like Blender years ago when they "knew it better" and had an okay software but not a good software with questionable design flaws and tedious workflows, since when they started to change views (namely started to have a more corporate structure and not just whatever the funder thought was good or bad like a king in medieval times...) they got support from most big names and slowly from the industry too (from gaming to movies) being a better software for all users eventually, in the past year, and it is growing exponentially. Serif in other hand still think "we do it our way because we know better", I had that impression from a video I watched a while back about them explaining channel packing as if they ever even did it considering they found a 10 min videos for something it takes second with other software actually smart - fine by all means it is a private company, if they are happy to have an average software none of us can force them to change that, they do believe they do good as Blender Founder thought back then "you do not need an undo if you are a good artist" and "right click to select is good because I says so", we are exactly on the same level here. We have alternative thankfully, is just a shame as this software could do better than what we have (GIMP for easy of use and some powerful features like their selection tool, Photoshop for not thieving customer with subscription) but they do not want to Well will be uninstalling it, once again...what a shame!

+1 here and also the DDS thread has over 7k views imagine the people googling before purchasing then see is really just a step there to implement something that would make ti way better and there is no such an option, I was trying again to test, I have to open gimp to convert DDS to PNG with Alpha (already ridiculous a free software is needed to do so) then importing in Affinity isn't any good as the only thing I can do in the alpha is paint white, with both PS and Gimp I can do black and white and work on the mask no issues... then you have again the issue that you cannot even export it correctly let alone export it as DDS or use a DDS plugin from Nvidia or Intel. At the minute I think the alpha is really a lack of willingness to cover the basics, why only being able to paint white? Really? It is 2020 not 1998... the DDS isn't there but layer paint in Alpha is totally unjustifiable. After all will disinstall it

Absolutely, it is an amazing software that's why I got genuinely excited, however for anyone to do anything with gaming is pretty much useless, I will explore Nvidia tool for DDS as I think there is a standalone (never really bothered to check as with Photoshop I can easily do whatever), there is also a small software called Xgrinder that does said conversion although with less options than Nvidia own exporter (or Intel despite this one works not as good IMHO). For PNG I will check that out, in gaming the alpha is used to mask part of a texture, at least in what I use it for, hence in Photoshop most game dev would resort to Suepr PNG (free) which someone correctly mentioned on the feature request for DDS. I think is a shame though, even outsourcing that part and slap a £10 extra on a "Affinity Photo Gaming Edition" let's call it like that would have helped, we live in the world of marketing and streamers and gaming is popular as ever was, with many people even young nosy about how to develop etc..all they can see is "use photoshop", if one day the need something they think of that becasue is everywhere, my 2 cents here. Thank you guys, will try now to play around a bit more with it, yesterday was 4am not the time to do so!

A solo thread... unfortunately from another thread I see it does not support DDS nor Nvidia DSS tool and again no Alpha in PNG so completely useless for anyone with anything to do with gaming will have to revert back to Photoshop again for the time being, shame as I got very excited by the software. Unistalling.

Nooo I was super excited to move away from Adobe with their thieving subscription but it is impractical without something like SuperPNG and DDS for anyone with anything to do with Gaming DDS is essential really and so is superpng with Alpha for texturing, not necessarily a plugin support @Mark Ingram however something with a similar functionality, that is needed (in my field at least) to mask textures, not sure about the other guys out there but I trust is the same. At this point I will have to skip, I was very excited with the software now that I tried it however without the above two function for game development is completely useless I appreciate the dev isn't interested in the professional developers market either and it seems it has been so for years, I can imagine how many get to this thread before even downloading it trial it, what a shame. and could go on for a while with thread here and there of people asking the same for years........................ @fde101 please... how many people game on mac? Come on...okay you don't like windows that does not resolve an issue limiting the most widely used platform for gaming, which isn't Mac and please mobile isn't even a gaming platform and some engine like unity still require the same workflow there too. Being a fanboy does not help anyone, especially now with indie developers growing by the day having a software which is great to create flyers only when you could potentially reach a professional audience which would make a statement for the software itself.

Never mind guys, it was right there... my bad memory and confusing words didn't help! Now I will just try to figure out how to import brushes then I am mostly sold already

Hi Everyone! I am new around here and just downloaded Affinity trying it out to see if it suits my workflow as I cannot stand Adobe a further second with their subscription system! Brushes as important to me for texture making, however I see there are some and some can be imported, however I cannot find a function which was essential for me on PS, apologies I cannot really say the exact name and I am not native speaker, I'll describe it. I allowed to select something in a "prospective" like manner and once done it would straight it up, is it possible in Affinity Photo? I was playing around with it and cannot find it. Thank you!